Thursday, October 15, 2015

Kudos to Olive Garden

I saw where an officer was asked to leave an Olive Garden in Kansas because the officer was armed.

The last time I was in my local OG, there were no GUN BAN signs on the doors.

For the record, please confirm - does Olive Garden have a corporate police against allowing legally armed citizens in your restaurants?

Thanks so much,
Liston Matthews

This reply was received from Olive Garden Guest Relations:

Dear Liston:
Thank you for sharing your concern and feedback.

We are very sorry for the experience the officer had in our restaurant. It was unacceptable and completely inconsistent with how we treat members of law enforcement. The President of Olive Garden has spoken with the officer to personally apologize.

Police officers are always welcome at Olive Garden. They serve our community, and we love serving them. In fact, we have a tradition of taking meals to police, fire and other first responders on Labor Day as a way of saying thank you.

Our policy is to abide by all local laws regarding firearms and conceal carry regulations. I can assure you, we continuously train all of our restaurant team members on our policies and procedures to maintain proper execution of these guidelines to ensure our guests have an exceptional dining experience with us.

Following the isolated incident in Kansas City, we sent a communication to all of our restaurant teams to reinforce our policies and procedures.

I want to thank you for your interest in Olive Garden, and for sharing your feedback with us. I hope you allow us another opportunity to earn your trust again and to serve you in our restaurants soon.
Stephen
Olive Garden Guest Relations